Brethren bits: Correction, remembrance, and more.

• In a correction to the Oct. 29 story "Plans for `Conversations on Being the Church' Continue," Jonathan Shively is director of the Brethren Academy for Ministerial Leadership.
  
  
• The General Board has sent a letter of condolence to the Greek Orthodox Church on the death of Pope Petros VII, Greek Orthodox patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa, and 17 church leaders and members of his staff. The patriarch along with bishops, priests, and lay staff were killed in September in a helicopter crash over the Aegean. "We hereby express fervent gratitude on receipt of your brotherly letter through which you participated in the profound sorrow of the Alexandrian Church," replied Petros Metropolitan of Alexandria and All Africa. "The prayers of all are a source of comfort and hope when events beyond our control intervene in our lives," wrote Demetrios, Archbishop of America, replying on behalf of the American archdiocese.
  
  
• The December Source mailing includes ideas for congregations to use the unique opportunity of the Church of the Brethren Christmas Eve Service on CBS. Ideas are given for how congregations may use the national television broadcast to share the Good News of Jesus Christ with their communities. The Source packet, a monthly mailing of resources for congregations, will arrive at church offices by mid-November. Also in this Source packet: A letter from Annual Conference moderator Jim Hardenbrook; information from the 300th Anniversary Committee; order forms for a Lent devotional by Glenn Mitchell; a Christmas catalogue from Brethren Press; a youth essay contest by "Messenger" magazine; bulletin inserts on stewardship; brochures for the 2005 National Workcamps for youth and young adults; an invitation to send Christmas cards to Brethren Volunteer Service workers; a flier from A Greater Gift/SERRV; "The Seed Packet" newsletter for Christian educators; and the "Tapestry" newsletter.
  
  
• The General Board's Disaster Child Care (DCC) program's response to Hurricanes Charley, Frances, Ivan, and Jeanne is "winding down," reported coordinator Helen Stonesifer. The last of four child care centers in American Red Cross Service Centers will close Nov. 6. The only child care center remaining open is in Kissimmee, Fla., and is expected to close by the end of next week. For more than two months, in 16 child care centers and three states, approximately 111 volunteers have made more than 2,667 child care contacts, Stonesifer said.
  
  
• Volunteers interested in becoming Disaster Response project directors will gather from across the denomination Nov. 7-9 for a training in New Windsor, Md. Thirteen people will prepare to direct disaster clean up and rebuilding through the General Board's Emergency Response.
  
  
• General Board staff at the Brethren Service Center in New Windsor, Md., are participating in Mission Fairs at churches taking part in the Purpose Driven Life program. Diane Gosnell attended the Westminster United Methodist Church mission fair on Oct. 24, providing volunteer information for organizations on campus; and Kathleen Campanella will attend the Locust Grove Church of the Brethren mission fair in Mount Airy, Md., on Nov. 7.
  
  
• Greensburg (Pa.) Church of the Brethren will host a concert by the Western Pennsylvania District Youth Choir at 7 p.m. Nov. 6. The 15-member choir will sing original compositions by director Paul Longwell. The group is doing a weekend tour of congregations in the district.
  
  
• The Ephrata Cloister Chorus will perform at Glade Valley Church of the Brethren, Walkersville, Md., on Nov. 20. The chorus of some 40 women and men includes music directors and pastors of local Brethren and other congregations, and will perform a mix of early Brethren music, Shaker music, and later American religious music. For more information call the church at 301-898-0886.
  
  
• Three districts hold conferences this weekend and next: Illinois-Wisconsin meets Nov. 5-7 at Dixon (Ill.) Church of the Brethren with Ed Garrison as moderator; Shenandoah meets Nov. 5-6 at Bridgewater (Va.) Church of the Brethren with John Garber as moderator; Virlina meets Nov. 12-18 at Bonsack Baptist Church in Roanoke, Va., with David Minnich as moderator.
  
  
• Women of Northern Indiana District meet Nov. 6 for a personal growth day led by Carol Spicher Waggy at Pine Creek Church of the Brethren, North Liberty, Ind. The theme is "Piecing It Together."
  
  
• A Midwest Pastors Conference Nov. 14-16 at Camp Alexander Mack, Milford, Ind., is sponsored by midwestern districts. Jerry and Julia Flora, of Ashland Theological Seminary, will speak. Call the camp at 574-658-4831.
  
  
• Manchester College, North Manchester, Ind., has tripled its Connections scholarship to $3,000 for new Church of the Brethren students entering in the fall of 2005. Brethren students will receive the award on top of all other financial aid for which they qualify, up to full tuition. "Our Brethren students are consistently among our top students academically and are leaders on campus," noted Dave McFadden, vice president for Enrollment and Planning, in a release from the college. "They are a key part of what makes us a distinctive college." The release reported that 11 Fulbright Scholars from Manchester have been Church of the Brethren. Visit www.manchester.edu or call 800-852-3648.
  
  
• November events at Bridgewater (Va.) College include an exhibit of "Eccentric Inventions" by Allan Rosenbaum, a Virginia Commonwealth University professor, Nov. 15-Dec. 15; and a reception with the artist 4-7 p.m. Nov. 15. Other special events are the Ensemble Amarcord, a male a cappella quintet, 8 p.m. Nov. 15; Thanksgiving Campus Worship Nov. 16 at 9:30 a.m.; a W. Harold Row Endowed Lecture at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 18 on "Overkill Serial Murder Exposed" with Jack Levin, director of the Program for the Study of Violence at Northeastern University in Boston; a concert by the Symphonic Band on Nov. 21 at 3 p.m.; Convocation with the Bridgewater College International Club at 9:30 a.m. Nov. 30; and at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 30 a panel discussion of Brown vs. Board of Education. For information call 540-828-5486.
  
  
• Lebanon Valley Brethren Home, Palmyra, Pa., will hold its 30th Annual Meeting at 7 p.m. Nov. 9. The meeting brings the home's anniversary celebration to an official conclusion. A scrapbook of the home's history, including news articles, pictures, and other memorabilia, may be displayed to celebrate the anniversary. A history of the home written by Joe Long, board member and amateur historian, will be published in 2005.
  
  
• Charles E. Cable, president and CEO of Brethren Hillcrest Homes in La Verne, Calif., has received a Meritorious Service Award from the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging (AAHSA), reported the Association of Brethren Caregivers. The award was given at the AAHSA annual meeting Oct. 25-28 in Nashville, Tenn. "Under (Cable's) direction, Hillcrest has been recognized as one of the outstanding continuing care retirement communities in the country," stated a citation in the Sept./Oct. issue of "Best Practices," the AAHSA magazine. The citation also recognized Cable's service on several AAHSA committees and as board chair of the California Association of Homes and Services for the Aging.
  
  
• Three members of the same family were ordained to pastoral ministry on the same day at Parker Ford (Pa.) Church of the Brethren on Oct. 10: Jay and Carol Doering, who serve the Parker Ford congregation, and their son Tim Doering, pastor of Discipleship Ministries at Ephrata (Pa.) Church of the Brethren. "We don't think so much (of being pastors) as a family affair," Jay told "The Mercury" newspaper of Pottstown, Pa. Tim's ordination was held last so that his parents could participate, his mother told the paper. "It's pretty special that we get to participate in his ordination," she said.
  
  
• Two members of Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) were arrested by Israeli police in Hebron Nov. 4, and released late that night. Joe Carr of Kansas City, Mo., and Christina Gibb of Dunedin, New Zealand, were arrested at a military checkpoint where they were taking notes of the number of Palestinians passing by and the percentage who were detained. The arrest comes at a time when CPT volunteers have been under increased scrutiny by the Israeli police, army, and secret service, CPT said, and after attacks on CPT workers by settlers. In other news, veteran CPT worker and Church of the Brethren member Cliff Kindy returned to Iraq this week, joining a team of peacemakers that will number six by the end of November. CPT is a peacemaking initiative of Mennonite and Brethren congregations and Friends meetings. For more information visit www.cpt.org.

Source: 11/05/2004 Newsline